September 23, 2010

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Debt-changing-media-habits-apf-1049608580.html?x=0

Article Title: Debt, changing media habits topple Blockbuster

Written By: Mae Anderson

This article informs us of Blockbuster’s economic status, bankruptcy. The author of this article speaks to us in a serious, informative tone, mainly to those who buy or rent movies frequently. The main idea of this article is for us to know what Blockbuster is trying to do to get out of its dept, which is about $675 million.

1. What did you learn  today as you read that you did not know before? What surprised you? Explain why it surprised you.

I remember that as a little kid my dad would always rent movies from Blockbuster. I always had thought that it was a movie heaven. It is quite surprising to find out that my child paradise business is going bankrupt. With the bad economy and more convenient ways to get a hold of the new films, people have bypassed this large company. As Blockbuster went through its years, it lost its fame and caused it to go rolling down hill. It is amazing to see how much this economic depression, and new ways to get movies, have damaged and almost destroyed one of the past’s biggest companies.

September 23, 2010

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100922/ap_on_re_us/us_monster_lake_3

Article Title: North Dakota lake swallows land and buildings

Written By: Dave Kolpack

The author of this article writes to his audience, especially those in North Dakota, about the uncontrollable rising of the water of Devil’s Lake. Since the 1980s, the lake has risen in water level, and is now 8-6 feet within overflowing. This author is extremely serious and formal in his way of writing and presenting the information. The main goal of his article is to inform us of what is happening to the lake in North Dakota, and to tell us of how the residents are reacting and what actions must be, or could be taken to solve this dilemma.

3. Did you come across a problem in your reading that you had not considered before? What was the problem? Could you solve it? How?

This article made me reflect on how would I react if I were in this situation. In one way I would say, “Let it overflow, it’s the lakes natural cycle. Why interfere with it?” On the other hand though, it does pose a serious threat, not only to the residents of the cities around the lake, but also the ecology of the rivers and the land that would be affected by the runaway waters. One way to solve it would to build different channels, and then connect them to different rivers so that not just one or two would get the whole impact. Another thing to do could be to build a reservoir or a dam, deeper than the original lake, and store the water there so that it won’t contaminate other bodies of water, in this case the rivers around it. Lastly, they could try to transport some of the water and dump it in the ocean, or use it for agricultural purposes. There is no one exact solution to this dilemma, and all of them would be extremely costly, but it is better than just sitting back with their hands crossed complaining about the damage it would cause.

September 22, 2010

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ytech_gadg/ytech_gadg_tc3675

Article Title: Girl posts public birthday party invite on Facebook, gets 21,000 replies

Written By:  Ben Patterson

I chose this article because the title seemed humorous to me. The author’s purpose is to inform us of the risks of posting events on Facebook, and not selecting the “private” setting for it. This author is speaking to the audience in general in a serious tone. The main idea of this article is to inform of how easy it is to ruin a simple little birthday party, just by the error of posting the event publicly on the internet, in this case Facebook.

6. What is the most important thing that you have learned? Why?

I would say that the most important thing that I learned from this article is to be as cautious as possible when creating events on the internet. We never know who is out there and what perverts are just waiting at their computer to see what underaged kid invites the entire world to their party/house, either on purpose or accidentally. Such was the case of 14-year-old Rebecca from England. She received 21,000 RSVP replies for her 15th birthday party, just because she had forgotten to change the privacy settings to “Private” for her event. We should really be careful with what we post on the internet, for our own safety and privacy.